Photo Basics (Online Course) Fall 2025 w/ Joseph Podlesnik
October 2 to October 30 (Thursdays), 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM, Eastern Time
**All sessions are live and will be recorded, students do not have to be present. All recordings will be available to students for 3 months after the final session, after 3 months the recording will be deleted.
Please check your email spam/junk folder for your Zoom invite.
DEMO: https://youtu.be/ZcndJUiqVEY
Course Description
What are you curious about? Can photography express it? This course is for photo enthusiasts who want to learn the basic operations of a camera, fundamental photo principles and composition to further develop one’s eye.
Course Outline
Week 1 -
Digital photo basics. The digital camera. Sensors and their role in digital photography - 1/3”, APS-C, 35mm full-frame. RAW vs jpg. The “Triangle of Exposure”: aperture (light and depth of field), shutter speed (motion) and ISO (light sensitivity) and how they affect our images.
Take photos experimenting with aperture, shutter speed and ISO.
Week 2 -
Focal length/lenses - and its influence on depiction of space and framing (what certain focal length lenses allow and do not allow in one’s pictures) – 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 150mm and beyond. Prime and zoom lenses. Garry Winogrand, photo medium and the frame. How photos distort. Framing, composition (Rule of Thirds, quadrants, asymmetry).
Seeing discoveries in the frame.
Week 3 -
Lighting (direct, diffuse - flash, reflectors, etc.). The three roles of light in our pictures. The effects of black & white & color, what they bring to our images. (We will study some strong photographic examples).
Week 4 -
Storing and managing your image files. Processing your images. I will be demonstrating Adobe Bridge (Camera Raw) and Photoshop. Resizing, cropping. Dodging and burning.
Ansel Adams and the difference between the ‘score’ and the ‘performance’ of photographs.
Week 5 -
Building 2-D awareness in our photographs. Gestalt Laws (similarity, proximity, continuation, closure), Gestalt “flash drawings” (a drawing pad and pencil will be needed for this class) Continuation of processing images. Image & canvas resizing, color correction, transformations, cloning and healing tools. The Print.
Course Materials List
Materials needed:
camera (phone, DSLR recommended)
Any other gear that you use (lenses, tripod, flash, etc.)
Drawing pad and pencil.
October 2 to October 30 (Thursdays), 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM, Eastern Time
**All sessions are live and will be recorded, students do not have to be present. All recordings will be available to students for 3 months after the final session, after 3 months the recording will be deleted.
Please check your email spam/junk folder for your Zoom invite.
DEMO: https://youtu.be/ZcndJUiqVEY
Course Description
What are you curious about? Can photography express it? This course is for photo enthusiasts who want to learn the basic operations of a camera, fundamental photo principles and composition to further develop one’s eye.
Course Outline
Week 1 -
Digital photo basics. The digital camera. Sensors and their role in digital photography - 1/3”, APS-C, 35mm full-frame. RAW vs jpg. The “Triangle of Exposure”: aperture (light and depth of field), shutter speed (motion) and ISO (light sensitivity) and how they affect our images.
Take photos experimenting with aperture, shutter speed and ISO.
Week 2 -
Focal length/lenses - and its influence on depiction of space and framing (what certain focal length lenses allow and do not allow in one’s pictures) – 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 150mm and beyond. Prime and zoom lenses. Garry Winogrand, photo medium and the frame. How photos distort. Framing, composition (Rule of Thirds, quadrants, asymmetry).
Seeing discoveries in the frame.
Week 3 -
Lighting (direct, diffuse - flash, reflectors, etc.). The three roles of light in our pictures. The effects of black & white & color, what they bring to our images. (We will study some strong photographic examples).
Week 4 -
Storing and managing your image files. Processing your images. I will be demonstrating Adobe Bridge (Camera Raw) and Photoshop. Resizing, cropping. Dodging and burning.
Ansel Adams and the difference between the ‘score’ and the ‘performance’ of photographs.
Week 5 -
Building 2-D awareness in our photographs. Gestalt Laws (similarity, proximity, continuation, closure), Gestalt “flash drawings” (a drawing pad and pencil will be needed for this class) Continuation of processing images. Image & canvas resizing, color correction, transformations, cloning and healing tools. The Print.
Course Materials List
Materials needed:
camera (phone, DSLR recommended)
Any other gear that you use (lenses, tripod, flash, etc.)
Drawing pad and pencil.
October 2 to October 30 (Thursdays), 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM, Eastern Time
**All sessions are live and will be recorded, students do not have to be present. All recordings will be available to students for 3 months after the final session, after 3 months the recording will be deleted.
Please check your email spam/junk folder for your Zoom invite.
DEMO: https://youtu.be/ZcndJUiqVEY
Course Description
What are you curious about? Can photography express it? This course is for photo enthusiasts who want to learn the basic operations of a camera, fundamental photo principles and composition to further develop one’s eye.
Course Outline
Week 1 -
Digital photo basics. The digital camera. Sensors and their role in digital photography - 1/3”, APS-C, 35mm full-frame. RAW vs jpg. The “Triangle of Exposure”: aperture (light and depth of field), shutter speed (motion) and ISO (light sensitivity) and how they affect our images.
Take photos experimenting with aperture, shutter speed and ISO.
Week 2 -
Focal length/lenses - and its influence on depiction of space and framing (what certain focal length lenses allow and do not allow in one’s pictures) – 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 150mm and beyond. Prime and zoom lenses. Garry Winogrand, photo medium and the frame. How photos distort. Framing, composition (Rule of Thirds, quadrants, asymmetry).
Seeing discoveries in the frame.
Week 3 -
Lighting (direct, diffuse - flash, reflectors, etc.). The three roles of light in our pictures. The effects of black & white & color, what they bring to our images. (We will study some strong photographic examples).
Week 4 -
Storing and managing your image files. Processing your images. I will be demonstrating Adobe Bridge (Camera Raw) and Photoshop. Resizing, cropping. Dodging and burning.
Ansel Adams and the difference between the ‘score’ and the ‘performance’ of photographs.
Week 5 -
Building 2-D awareness in our photographs. Gestalt Laws (similarity, proximity, continuation, closure), Gestalt “flash drawings” (a drawing pad and pencil will be needed for this class) Continuation of processing images. Image & canvas resizing, color correction, transformations, cloning and healing tools. The Print.
Course Materials List
Materials needed:
camera (phone, DSLR recommended)
Any other gear that you use (lenses, tripod, flash, etc.)
Drawing pad and pencil.